Review: Arduboy FX-C

Manufacturer: Seeed Studio

Price as tested: $79

Link: arduboy.com

Arduboy, the credit card-sized game console, keeps evolving, now with the FX-C. It’s still pocket sized and still powered by an 8-bit ATMega32u4. Though the power is tiny compared to the ubiquitous ESP32, it still sports a library of 300 community-made games and counting.

It’s small and light enough that I forgot I was carrying it around, and the monochromatic screen is bright enough to play outside. An RGB LED adds a hint of color.

Unlike those 50-in-one systems-on-a-chip with five games and 10 minor variations on each, these are actually 300 individual games. The effect is something like UFO 50 in a universe of pocket LCD games (though saying UFO 50 is like Arduboy might be more accurate). There are twists on old classics and new originals, so yes, you can play Snake, but also addictive faux-3D games.

There’s no external volume control, unlike the system which inspired it. Fortunately all the games I tried had a mute mode and most, if not all, defaulted to it. There’s an RGB LED on the board which a few games I tried did something interesting with. I think my one complaint would be that it is bright enough to be blinding in a couple of applications. Thankfully it was always very brief and of course not a deal breaker since it’s built to be customized.

The beauty of the system, of course, is that you’re not limited to what programs it comes with. The open source console is a platform to learn how to code your own games and apps, with excellent tutorials written by the community. If you can program an Arduino, you can make your own wallet-sized game. And the USB-C programming cable also works for head-to-head 2-player games.

Limited Founders Edition models are available through arduboy.com. They’re partnering with Seeed Studio for the standard edition, available at Arduboy or Amazon.